Joe Root has confidence in England’s young and old to deliver as Dom Bess prepares for his Lord’s debut and Alastair Cook tries to prove he is still a world-beating opener.

Root, who confirmed on the eve of the first NatWest Test that 20-year-old off-spinner Bess will face Pakistan, backed Cook to extend his record-breaking career “for another couple of years at least”.

The England captain is enthused too by Ben Stokes’ return at the start of the home summer – after the game-changing all-rounder resumed his international career in New Zealand, having missed last winter’s Ashes defeat.

Alastair Cook has received the backing of Joe Root

Stokes will feature in just one Lord’s Test this summer – he is due in Bristol Crown Court to answer a charge of affray when India are the opposition in August – but, Root insists, gives England a “different dimension” whenever he takes the field.

He is equally convinced that Cook, whose inconsistent returns over the past year have included two double-centuries but only 216 further runs at an average of 13.5 since last August, can demonstrate his enduring effectiveness.

At the age of 33, England’s all-time record runscorer is only 10 months younger than AB de Villiers, the South African star who announced his retirement from international cricket on Wednesday.